Analysis Of John Brown's Raid On Harpers Ferry '

One of the many activists during the anti-slavery movement was John Brown. Brown was mostly known for his violent acts towards those who supported slavery, committing raids and spilling blood; this was unlike many other abolitionists who helped slaves escape or made speeches and writings to spread the idea of anti-slavery. Brown was committed to his beliefs and ensured to form an army that would aid him. Brown “began to exact what he saw as justice. Brown and his men believed they were doing God's will, and they justified their violence as an ‘eye for an eye’” (Robinson). By creating this

Referred to as a “antislavery zealot” by some and as a “heroic hand” by others, John Brown was certainly one who stained history with blood. John Brown’s conduction of anti-slavery raids to fight “fire with fire”, triggered by his radical ways to fight the tyranny that was slavery,Brown impacted the whole country. During this time most anti-slavery supporters were peaceful and only tried to fight slavery “morally”, however John Brown lead many anti slavery raids his most famous and the one which he would have to pay with his life being, the Harpers Ferry Raid. The seizing of federal armory and arsenal with a group of men with just a mere hope of the local slave population helping him in order to reach success and create a nation wide effect failed miserably when the slavery population frightened did not join his raid. Captured, John Brown delivered one of the most enticing and alluring speech during his trial, his last speech, his address to the court in which he admits his actions in his “crusade” to fight slavery as well as patronizingly accepts his punishment without regret or remorse. In his speech he address one objection, being that if he was fighting on behalf of the rich, high class and those who supported and benefited from the tyrant slavery system,he would have been rewarded and praised instead of punished, proving that once again the tyrant, oppresing, racist and discriminating federal government was being run by bias men who aimed to keep the inhuman hierarchy

In the eyes of many African-Americans, John Brown was a great hero because he was fighting for them in his stance against slavery. There is a famous painting titled “Last Moments of John Brown” in which he is being led to his execution and where a black woman is holding up her baby for him to kiss. This painting is symbolic for Brown’s ultimate sacrifice and what he meant to the black slave community. Brown was willing to make the sacrifice of death for them and for their freedom. This painting

John Brown’s beliefs about slavery and activities to destroy it hardly represented the mainstream of northern society in the years leading up to the Civil War. This rather unique man, however, has become central to an understanding and in some cases misunderstandings about the origins of the Civil War. The importance of Brown’s mission against slavery was colossal to accelerating the civil war between the North and the South. His raid on Harpers Ferry in1859 divided the United States like nothing else before, and could have been the main event leading to the Civil War.

When Black abolitionists began to examine the results of moral reform and moral persuasion in the late 1830s and early 1840s, they concluded that the battle for emancipation and quality need new strategies and tactics. Their 'situation was worsening', not improving and hard evidence in black life supportted that claim. The different level of such group to the intellectual, social, and economic force (Woodson,1925, Quaarles, 1969, and Dick 1974). But there was a growing number of white abolitionists will not adopt immediate belief, rejecting what Garrison now called the pernicious doctrine of gradual emancipation.

In “A Behavioral Analysis of John Brown: Martyr or Terrorist,” James N. Gilbert effectively argues that John Brown’s inhumane actions clearly conform to a modern definition of a domestic terrorist, proving that Brown was an irrational terrorist. Not only is Gilbert a professor and former chair of the department of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, but he is also an author who specializes in criminal investigative theory and has authored Criminal Investigation as well as numerous journal articles. According to Gilbert, Brown lived during a time when both the political process and democratic values had been destroyed by slavery. Brown was a radical abolitionist who believed violence and terror was the only way to overthrow

Similarly to the heroes of today in the military where they kill bad people for the rights of others, John Brown and his group killed slave owners in order for slaves to gain their natural and human rights. John Brown was obsessed about the issue dealing with the brutality of slavery and how wrong slavery is. Since slavery was the only thing that went though his mind, he quickly came up with the plan to free as many slaves as possible. John’s method included violence because he thought it was the only way. This plan included taking the federal arsenal, killing slave owners and arming the slaves to fight for other slave’s freedoms.

To this day, many Americans tend to overlook the severity of the abuse and soul-breaking, institutionalized, terrors that slaves such as William Brown endured and fought against in the Old South. Physical and psychological torture was common, and to be expected from particularly harsh slave owners. Anyone who dared step out of line or refuse to work were met with even harsher consequences than before. This extremely low quality of life for slaves was not only common in the deep south, but also was spread up into the Missouri area, where slave and future abolitionist William Wells Brown would spend most of his life.

Henry Box Brown was an African-American slave in the 1800’s. When he was young, his original slave owner had passed, and Henry was sent to work for his old slave owner’s son. As he got older he met another slave named Nancy while on an errand for his owner. Brown and Nancy wanted to get married and start a family. Later on, Brown and Nancy had three children. “Unfortunately, in 1848 Nancy and their three children were sold to a slave trader who sent them to North Carolina,” (Simkin). Brown was bemused and mournful because his owner promised to not sell his family. Questions were raised on if he should attempt an escape, and this paper will explain the benefits on why Henry Box Brown made the right decision to escape.

In “A Behavioral Analysis of John Brown: Martyr or Terrorist,” James N. Gilbert effectively argues that John Brown’s inhumane actions clearly conform to a modern definition of a domestic terrorist. Gilbert argues that Brown justified his inhumane actions by proclaiming adherence to high political and moral values. Gilbert is a professor and former chair of the department of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska-Kearney who specializes in criminal investigative theory. In fact, Gilbert authored Criminal Investigation, which is now it its eighth edition, as well as numerous journal articles. According to Gilbert, Brown lived during a time when both the political process and democratic values had been destroyed by slavery. Gilbert offers insight throughout his argument regarding Brown’s controversial actions as Brown was unalterably opposed to slavery. Overall, in his analysis, Gilbert successfully proves that Brown’s inhumane actions relate to a modern definition of a terrorist as Brown believed that terror and violence were the only ways to abolish slavery.

Countries have gone to war against themselves many times because of internal conflicts amongst the citizens or government. Civil wars do not erupt out of nothingness, but rather controversial issues manifest into something that becomes impossible to resolve in a domestic manner. The great divide between the northern and southern states turned into the controversy between the free and not free states. One either lived in the populated cities up north, most likely working in the manufacturing industry, or lived in the rural plantations of the south, dominated by an agricultural economy. Each side of

This article discusses the incident involving John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry on October 16, 1859. Before the American Civil War Harpers Ferry was a small town with many shops and a U.S armory filled with weapons. There were shops focused primarily around the manufacturing of guns. This would include forges and stock making shops. John Brown’s men included sixteen white and five black. Brown’s plan was to abolish slave power in the south. The raid on Harpers Ferry was initially planned in 1857 by Brown. At this time Brown was heavily involved in the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Brown’s forces were at fault due to the Potawatomie Massacre where five individuals had been killed. The Potawatomie Massacre was one of the many incidents that occurred during

John Brown was a man who fought for an end to slavery, but he used drastic and violent measures to push his dream into action. Over a hundred years later, after the infamous raid by John Brown at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, historians debate if the vehement man should be considered a freedom fighter, or a terrorist. However, despite Brown’s beliefs, beliefs that matched with the thoughts of a freedom fighter, the man still killed ruthlessly, like a terrorist. Furthermore, he never used civil means, a term that became popular by Henry David Thoreau from his notable essay, Civil Disobedience, written in 1849, only ten years before John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry. Finally, John Brown’s actions present similar characteristics to the modern

In the article, John Brown: America’s First Terrorist, by Paul Finkelman, Brown was trying to start a war with his own country, “John Brown and 18 ‘soliders’ seized the U.S Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia… he would use the arms in the arsenal… to begin a guerilla war against slavery” (Finkelman 3). Taking the weapons from the arsenal at Harpers Ferry was an act of treason towards our country, because he was going to give weapons to other people, and try to start a war within our nation. If his acts at Harpers Ferry were successful, many more people may have died. The weapons would be placed in the hands of the enslaved people Brown rescued.

Staring in Kansas and ending in Virginia, there were three events that pushed the Civil War. The Dred Scott controversy, the election of 1860 and John Brown raid. John sees himself as a zealous abolitionist. John believed he was servant used by God. He also named himself a “God’s executioner of justice” (Shultz).